Spencer Reid and the Tower of Doomed
by BookaholicIam
Summary: Reid brings a hobby to work to show off, but disaster ensues. A silly little story.


Spencer Reid considered the project before him. His eyes narrowed slightly,

and his hand pushed back a lock of hair that hung before his eyes. Complete

concentration was required, and as his focus sharpened, the tip of his tongue

stuck out from the corner of his mouth.

'Ha', he thought, 'This has got to be the tallest I've ever gotten one of these....

at work'. The last two words would have been tinged with some bitterness if they

would have been spoken aloud. Spencer enjoyed hobbies that helped his concentration.

He felt they challenged his mind in a different way than reading or his work. Building

a tower of cards was one such challenge he enjoyed, and he had built some truly

spectacular towers at home. But, something in him wanted to show off his creations

to his friends at work, so, here he was at his desk, designing his latest masterpiece.

However, every time he tried to build one at work, something would always happen to

destroy his tower before it was finished.

This time, he thought he was safe. Hotch was in a meeting with Rossi looking over some

files that just needed a profile created and sent to the police department in charge of

the investigation. Not every case they worked required them to go to the location the

crime, or crimes, were committed. JJ was in her office looking through her case files

to see if any required their personal attendance, or a phone consult and profile. Morgan

and Prentiss were out of the office giving a profiling seminar to some local police

officers. Spencer had completed some paperwork from the last case they had

worked, and felt he deserved a little time to relax.

Tilting his head slightly to one side, he picked up a card (the ace of clubs, he noted)

and considered where it would work best. Slowly, he reached out his hand and very

delicately set it atop two other cards. He then smoothly moved his hand back, trying to

create as little air motion as possible. A quick smile spread across his face as he stepped

back and gazed upon his tower. It looked impressive, with a good, wide base, and rising

above his desk like a castle...well, a card castle. Maybe a few finishing touches? Then

again, it might not be worth it to risk it.

He thought back to the other times he had tried to build a card tower here. The first time,

Morgan had thought it wouldn't be hard to place a card on the tower, and had collapsed the

whole thing. Typical of Morgan to tackle something head-on. Spencer shook his head

slightly. Morgan never could back away from a challenge, and seeing the card tower had probably

been irresistible to him. Then there had been the time Garcia was walking by reading a

report she was taking to Hotch, and Spencer had made the mistake of saying, "Garcia,

watch out", and she had stepped sideways...right into his desk. If he had kept his mouth

shut she would have just walked on by. But she had been moving towards his desk anyways,

she probably would have bumped into it whether he had said something or not. This time was

going to be different.

The left side looked a little asymmetrical compared to the right side. Spencer picked up a

card. "Do I put it here, or would there work better?", he asked himself. Unconsciously,

he opened his mouth slightly as he reached out to place the final card on the best spot.

"Hey, Reid, whatcha doing?"

Spencer flinched slightly as he let go of the card, and watched helplessly as the entire

tower wobbled, and then folded in on itself.

He heaved a sigh, and let his forehead drop into his hand. He had been so close. He looked

behind him and said, sounding irritated "Hi, Emily. When did you and Morgan get back?"

'Just in time to ruin my tower a third time', he added in his head.

"We just got back. Hey, was that a card tower? It looked really good, until it fell

down," she said as she walked away.

Spencer sighed once more. As he picked up the cards off his desk, he resolved never again

to try to build a card tower at his desk again.


End file.
